Something Nice
by Backstepkisses
Summary: Sometimes, getting a Christmas Card from Lois it's not necessarily a good thing, or at least, that's what Clark thinks.


**Disclaimer:** I wish Clark was mine. He's not. Neither Lois, in case you're wondering.

**Author's Note:** Written for the _12days_of_clois_ Christmas Challenge at Livejournal. Thanks so much to GilmoreGirl5244 for the beta =)

* * *

Lois entered the Kent's house carrying a brown box full of papers.

"Mrs. Kent, this is the last box of folders that I could find at the Talon."

"Oh Lois," Martha said before running to help her get the box up on kitchen counter. "Thank you so much. You should have let Clark help you with that. I'm sorry you had to carry it all the way."

"Don't worry," Lois said while setting her keys down next to the box and rolling her sleeve up to show her biceps. "I have strong arms."

They both laughed as Clark came down the stairs, visibly upset.

"Lois!"

"Hey, Smallville," Lois greeted, not noticing Clark's serious tone.

Martha grabbed Lois' arm gently to whisper in her ear.

"He's been waiting for you the entire day."

Lois looked at her in shock. "What? Me? Why?"

"You just can't help it, can you?" Clark asked, and Martha stepped aside.

"I can't help what?"

"It is Christmas, Lois!" he shouted, startling Lois and making her jump backwards. "Couldn't you be nice for once in your life... not even on Christmas?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I… I think I'm gonna go and check that little something that I… I needed to check upstairs," muttered Martha, right before disappearing to leave them alone.

Clark waved a Christmas card in front of Lois' face.

"Oh, you got my card!"

"Oh, yes. I definitely got your card."

"You're welcome." she said happily, before realizing Clark's puckered brow.

"I'm welc…?" Clark left the word unfinished and sighed. Then he unfolded the card and started reading.

"_Merry Christmas, Smallville._

_Hope next year takes away all the drama from your life so you can stop being all emo and mopey about everything. (It's making people sick)_

_Hope Santa brings you the guts to fight for what you want and the wisdom to realize that some things are just meant to be and some others just aren't.(Give up already and move on!)_

_Cheers!_"

He folded the card again and waved it angrily at Lois.

"What kind of Christmas card is this?"

"What? Be thankful I sent you one, Scrooge. How many cards have you sent to me? Oh, wait… None!"

"Oh, I'd rather have none than this one!" Clark grabbed Lois' hand and snapped the card against her palm.

"First, Clark, ouch!"

Clark's gesture had been more intense than he intended and Lois ran a finger over the spot where the card had snapped her palm. Before he could start feeling guilty about it, Lois mimicked his movement, grabbing his hand and slapping the card back to his palm with all the strength she could.

"You're so ungrateful!"

"Ungrateful?" His eyes opened widely. "Oh yes Lois thank you so much for calling me emo, chicken, and… don't get me started with the last part. Even Shelby got a nicer card than I did!"

"Oh, Shelby got his card too? Did he like it?"

"He's thrilled," Clark said sarcastically.

Then he walked towards the dining table to pick up a bone-shaped card. He turned it over and read aloud.

"_Hey_… _Clarkie_!" he started, emphasizing the dog's name according to Lois. She chuckled. "_I hope next year allows me to be around you without wanting to sneeze my brain out of its cranium. Hope Santa brings you tons of whatever toys you dogs like. The right amount of love, Lois._"

"I'm an ace at writing Christmas Cards." she smiled proudly.

"Oh, yes, seeing the worst in people… and dogs, is obviously a gift you have."

"That was harsh, Smallville."

"Oh and your card wasn't?"

"I'm not sure if you lost your sense of humor, or if it waited until you were sleeping to run away from you."

"I just can't believe you couldn't find anything nice to say about me."

"Is that the reason why you didn't send _me_ a card? ...because you couldn't find anything nice to say about me?"

"Don't turn this on me!"

"Right, because that would imply you talking about your feelings. God knows what could happen then. Apocalypse, for sure!"

"Maybe I just don't like spitting words at people when they didn't even ask for it."

"I don't spit! And you know what? Whatever, give me the card, I'll throw it away."

"No!"

"You hate it!"

"Basically, I do, yes."

"Then, let me throw it out!"

"No!"

"Okay, throw it away yourself!"

"No!"

"Clark!"

"I want an apology."

Lois' mouth hung open.

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not!"

"You should be, because you'll see nuns hosting an orgy before you see Lois Lane apologizing to Clark Kent."

Clark opened his mouth to say something, but the words nuns, orgy, Lois and Clark in the same sentence left him speechless.

Lois turned around and went to pour some water into a glass, then sipped it slowly, trying to swallow her anger.

"So you really meant all those things you wrote in the card?"

"I might not have," Lois mumbled while taking another sip of water.

"You might not..."

Lois left the glass over the counter.

"What? You expect me to say something nice when all I've got since I got here have been arrows shot at my chest. Forget it, Smallville."

Clark sighed, fighting with Lois was a lost battle, and he knew it. When he got the card he told himself that he wouldn't confront her about it, that he'd forget that it even existed, and that he wouldn't give her the pleasure of a fight. What for, anyway? Not that he really cared about that stupid card… or Lois, for that matter. But then he heard his mom calling her name from upstairs, and he couldn't help but run to face her. He didn't know why, he just had to, and it was driving him crazy, as Lois always did.

Clark stared at her, who was looking anywhere but at him, absent-minded, even maybe a little bit sad, and he started feeling guilty again. How Lois was able to do that to him was a complete mystery. She just had the ability to make him want to kill her and kiss her all at once. "_Kiss her_?" he thought, and immediately shook his head.

"I liked the fact that you wrote me a card." Clark finally offered, and Lois looked up at him. "That was nice of you… at least before I opened it."

"I was just trying to mock you, Smallville, as I always do. I didn't know you'd take it so seriously. The fact that I sent a card to the dog should have given you a hint… I'll try to be nicer next time, okay?"

"That would be great," he smiled, half-satisfied with her answer.

"In fact…" Lois looked around as Clark arched a brow, afraid of what was coming next. "I'm gonna write you another one right now," she concluded as she walked over the kitchen table which was plastered with cards, all of them showing the same cover: Two red bells in a holy tree's background.

"Lois! Those cards are my mom's!"

"They're all the same, Smallville, she won't even notice."

"I'm noticing! And I don't want another card."

She ignored him, picked one up, and unfolded it without even looking at it. Then grabbed a pen and started writing.

"Seriously, Lois, I don't want another card. One was bad enough."

"Shut up, Smallville," she cut him. "I'm trying to be nice."

"Oh, sorry, that must require a big effort from you," he said mockingly.

Clark tried to peek at what she was writing, but couldn't. Lois glanced up at him and smirked, then kept writing. A minute later she quickly folded the card and hurled it against Clark's chest.

"Done." She placed the pen on the kitchen counter before grabbing her keys and heading towards the front door. "Tell your mom that I'll call her later," Lois said right before disappearing.

Clark couldn't help but smile as he unfolded the card to start reading.

"_Dear Clark - See? I'm being nicer already_

_I really hope next year brings you joy, peace of mind, happiness, health, money… a better taste in clothes, a more comfortable bed and a little bit of sense of humor._

_Yours (eww, I rather die) truly (really, kill me now),_

_Lois._

_PS: If you don't like this one either, Smallville, you can kiss my ss. =) - That's me, being all nicey._"

Clark let out a loud laugh.

"What is so funny?" Martha asked, entering the kitchen. "Where did Lois go?"

"She said she'd call you later."

Martha gazed at Clark, who was smiling widely and staring at the door.

"Did I miss something important?"

Clark shook his head. "Just Lois…being Lois."

"Ah, I see," Martha smiled, mischievously. She knew better. She was his mother after all. But she also knew it was better not to say a word.

Martha walked towards the kitchen table and looked over the cards.

"Hmm, Clark. Have you seen a card with a couple kissing in the cover?"

"What?" he said, turning around to face his mother.

"The cover, it's a couple kissing under the mistletoe. I could swear I left it here, but I can't find it now," she replied, searching through the cards.

"I thought they were all the same."

"Oh, they all are, except that one. I bought it specifically for Harry and Jane. Their silver wedding anniversary is the day after Christmas. I chose it specifically thinking about them because the lady at the shop told me that the painting is called "_Meant to be_" and I liked it."

Clark could swear he stopped breathing right in that moment. "_That's too much of a coincidence,_" he thought, looking at the dozens of cards on the table. If he remembered well, and he did, Lois was looking at him when she picked a random one up. "_Too much of a coincidence," _he repeated to himself. _"I mean, what are the chances that she picked __**that**__ one, that specific one among a dozen others? ...Just impossible."_

Clark walked past the table, to the front door, and slowly turned Lois' card over to check the cover, hiding it from his mother's view.

And there they were, the painting of a happy couple kissing under the mistletoe.

Clark exhaled heavily as he felt an unexpected tingle run down his spine. As usual, _impossible_ meant nothing whenever Lois was involved.

"Have you seen that card, son?" Martha asked, pulling Clark from his thoughts.

Clark wondered whether to tell the truth or hide the fact that the "_Meant to be_" card had ended up in his hands… written by Lois… for him. He didn't know how to explain it, not even to himself.

"No, mom," he finally said, folding the card and keeping it in his pocket. "I haven't seen it."

And there it was again, the feeling of wanting to kill and kiss Lois, all at the same time. Wanting to kill her for turning his life upside down with a simple card, with a simple smile, with a simple word, and wanting to kiss her because… well, he surely didn't want to go _there_... he wasn't ready to go _there, _but he was sure that someday he wouldn't be able to avoid those thoughts, those feelings, anymore.

He had been able to classify every single person in his life. Everyone of them had their own drawer in the big shelf unit that was his mind, and his heart. But Lois… he didn't know where to put her, she confused him in a way that no one else could. And somehow he felt that, by not giving her a drawer, Lois was invading his thoughts, and his heart, day by day.

But again, he didn't want to go _there_, not just yet. Lois was as scary to him as a future being Earth's savior. Something he wasn't ready for… yet.

Staring at the path that Lois' car had left in the dusty road in front of his house, a line written by her in another card crossed his mind:

_Some things are just meant to be…_

Clark sighed. Clearly, fighting against Lois was always a lost battle…


End file.
